MUNNSVILLE >> Stockbridge Valley Foods has started collecting items that have landed in yards, often several miles away, after last week’s tornado in Smithfield.

Several items have been collected on properties that are located more than five miles away from the home of the tornado’s victims, macabre tokens of the destruction left by that storm.

Newspaper clippings from other natural disasters that killed members of the DeGroat family in the past blew into the yard of Oneida Daily Dispatch General Manager Karen Alvord. She said she and her neighbors recovered a handful of other items and debris as well.

Several other items, including clothing and a CD loaded with photos of Kimberly M. Hillard and her family, were recovered by a resident whose name was not available at the time of this report. Employee Shelby Johnson said the store was collecting the items to return to the families. They are also raising money to help aid the DeGroat family, who will be taking care of Hillard’s surviving daughter, Ariana.

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Fundraising efforts

Other groups have begun raising money for the victims of the Smithfield tornado as well.

A GoFundMe page started by DeGroat family friend Casie Carpenter last week has raised more than $46,000 as of 3 p.m. on Monday. It has been shared more than 8,500 times. The page can be found here: www.gofundme.com/b8xnos.

A group on Facebook plans to hold a relief concert at the Morrisville Fireman’s Field from noon to 8 p.m. on Aug. 10 in order to raise money for victims in Smithfield. According to the group’s page, there will be food, drinks, games and music throughout the day, including Nashville artist Cassidy Lynn.

The Smithfield Tornado Relief Benefit will also hold a public meeting on July 20 at 6 p.m. at the Morrisville Fire House. More information on the group can be found here: www.facebook.com/smithfieldtornadorelief.

About the Author

Until December, 2014, Nick will was a staff writer at the Oneida Daily Dispatch. Hailing from Madison. Nick is a 2012 SUNY Plattsburgh graduate. In his time at The Dispatch, he focused on education, history and community events coverage in Madison and Southern Oneida counties. Reach the author at nwill@oneidadispatch.com
or follow Nick on Twitter: @DispatchNick.